IN THIS GUIDE · Sequence a Lévis manufacturer's L-1A transfer so the qualifying year, the group link and the managerial role are each proven before filing
Start with the L-1A eligibility and application overview
Begin with the qualifying year, because it cannot be manufactured later
Hypothetical example: a precision-machining company in Lévis acquires a U.S. shop and wants its plant operations director to run it. She joined fourteen months ago from a supplier that the group does not own. The year counts only from her start date with the Lévis entity, and any time she spent in the United States on business visits during that year is generally not counted toward it. Pull payroll records, the employment contract and travel history first; if the year is short, the filing date moves, not the facts.
Prove the group with documents that show ownership, not cooperation
A distribution agreement, a shared brand or common customers do not create a qualifying relationship. Share registers, articles of incorporation, purchase agreements and, where the structure is layered, a chart naming every intermediate holding company are what establish parent, subsidiary or affiliate status. Both entities must be doing business: a U.S. company that exists only on paper, or a Lévis parent that has wound down, undermines the petition regardless of how well the individual qualifies.
Describe the U.S. duties as decisions and supervision
The role must be primarily managerial or executive. For a manager that means directing the organisation or a department, supervising professionals or other managers, holding authority to hire and fire, and exercising discretion over daily operations. For an executive it means directing the enterprise, setting goals and policies, and operating with wide latitude. A director who will personally program the machines for the first year is doing operational work, and the petition should reflect the staffing that lets her manage instead.
Plan the new-office year as a business project
Where the U.S. entity has been trading for less than a year, the petition needs evidence of secured premises, the financial ability to pay the person, and a plan showing the operation will support a managerial role within twelve months. The first approval lasts one year, and the extension is judged on what actually happened. Keep hiring records, invoices, leases and financial statements as they are created, so the extension file is assembled from contemporaneous evidence rather than reconstructed memory.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.